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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. key — for a lock
  5. field — for sport
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. content — the amount
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. court — of a king
  10. stand — to bear
  11. field — a subject
  12. court — for sport
  13. field — farmland
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. key — in music
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. court — of law
  22. prune — to trim
  23. key — the most important part
  24. content — happy

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com